Tuesday, March 03, 2015, 4:41 p.m.

Stories for March 12, 2014

Officials with the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department announced in a Wednesday afternoon news release that work on Highway 70 in Garland and Saline counties will be suspended to make room for crowds traveling to Hot Springs for several events in the coming days.

DUNCAN, Okla. — An Oklahoma judge says two teenagers charged with first-degree murder must face a trial in the shooting death of an Australian baseball player. Prosecutors say a third suspect will testify against them.

ALBANY, N.Y. — The average bonus paid to securities industry employees in New York City grew 15 percent last year to more than $164,000, the largest average Wall Street bonus since the 2008 financial crisis and the third highest on record, New York’s state comptroller reported Wednesday.

CHICAGO — A wet snow forced residents of Chicago and the Midwest to once again break out shovels and slog to work along slippery roads and slow transit lines, a reality check for winter-weary residents who had just reveled in a day or so of springlike temperatures. Along the storm's eastward track, upstate New York was gearing up for a blizzard.

For 14 years, the Irish Cultural Society of Arkansas has enthusiastically shared its traditions with the people of central Arkansas through its Rock to North Little Rock St. Patrick’s Day Parade 1 p.m. Sunday, Jennifer Nixon writes in Thursday's Arkansas Weekend section.

JERUSALEM — Israeli lawmakers passed a contentious law Wednesday meant to draft ultra-Orthodox Jews into the military, the culmination of a drive for reforms that has seen mass protests by the religious community in Israel and beyond.

PRETORIA, South Africa — Kneeling in court and swinging a cricket bat at Oscar Pistorius' toilet door, a South African forensic analyst demonstrated Wednesday how the double-amputee athlete may have bashed the door to get to the girlfriend he had just fatally shot.

WASHINGTON — Congress will weigh some of the most significant U.S. sanctions on Russia since the end of the Cold War in a bid to pressure President Vladimir Putin to pull Russian troops out of Crimea, according to a copy of a new Senate bill.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysian authorities defended their handling of the hunt for the missing Boeing 777 on Wednesday even as they acknowledging they were unsure which direction the plane was headed when it disappeared, highlighting the task facing an international search mission now in its fifth day.

The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday accused the CIA of improperly removing documents from computers that committee staff members had been using to complete a report on the agency’s detention program, saying the move was part of an effort to intimidate the committee.

A Swedish journalist was shot to death while he was out reporting in an affluent and well-guarded area in Kabul on Tuesday, highlighting fears of rising violence ahead of a crucial election to choose a new leader for the country.

Wealthy Democratic environmentalists are considering withholding support for a 2016 Hillary Rodham Clinton presidential bid unless she reassures them about their top priority: killing the Keystone XL pipeline.

A campaign adviser to Hillary Rodham Clinton was involved in an off the-books operation to help the former first lady’s 2008 presidential campaign in four states and Puerto Rico, according to federal court documents.

With less than a month remaining in the first enrollment period, more than 4.2 million Americans have signed up for health insurance on marketplaces created by President Barack Obama’s health law, administration officials announced Tuesday.

Military officials and lawyers for an Army general accused of sexual assault said Tuesday that they had entered into plea negotiations to find a possible resolution to the case, and the judge overseeing the trial sent their jurors back to their ordinary duties for an indefinite period.

A British man testifying in the terror trial of Osama bin Laden’s son-in law said Tuesday that he flew on planes over the Middle East and Europe with explosives in a shoe after the Sept. 11 attacks but didn’t detonate them because he was saving the bomb for an attack over America.

A missing Malaysian jetliner may have attempted to turn back before it vanished from radar, but there is no evidence it reached the Strait of Malacca, the country’s air force chief said today, denying reports that he had said otherwise.

by STEVEN LEE MYERS THE NEW YORK TIMES | posted: 03/12/2014 5:08 a.m.
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As Russia tightened its grip on Crimea, Ukraine’s ousted president appealed Tuesday to the country’s military units to refuse to follow the orders of the new interim authorities, declaring that he remained commander in chief and would return to the country as soon as conditions permitted.

by DAVID E. SANGER THE NEW YORK TIMES | posted: 03/12/2014 5:06 a.m.
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Vice Adm. Michael Rogers, President Barack Obama’s nominee to run the National Security Agency, told a Senate committee Tuesday that he had seen evidence of broad cyberattacks on the new Ukraine government, but he declined to say whether the Russian government was the source, or how much damage the attacks had done.

Ten months after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the nation’s surveillance court delivered a ruling that intelligence officials consider a milestone in the secret history of U.S. spying and privacy law.

QUOTE OF THE DAY “You do not have any legal grounds to provide financial assistance to these bandits.” Viktor Yanukovych, Ukraine’s ousted president, who denounced the West for recognizing and pledging aid to a government he said took power in a coup

QUOTE OF THE DAY “Why would anyone in his right mind be director of NSA right now?” John Schindler, a former National Security Agency officer, referring to Vice Adm. Michael Rogers, whose nomination to run the much-scrutinized agency is being reviewed by the Senate Armed Services Committee

Nadya Suleman, 38, who has 14 children and is sometimes referred to as “Octomom,” pleaded innocent in Los Angeles to welfare fraud, accused of failing to reveal all of her earnings, and is to return to court next month if her case isn’t resolved before then.

The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department will trim 10 highway projects worth an estimated $62 million from a list of projects to be awarded contracts next month because agency officials anticipate that the federal government will cut back highway reimbursements to states before the fiscal year ends in September.

University of Central Arkansas President Tom Courtway testified Tuesday that he repeatedly urged former Chief of Staff Jack Gillean to explain how then-student Cameron Stark got Gillean’s master key that was used in a series of campus burglaries, but that Gillean would not and resigned instead.

State highway officials said Tuesday that they will add personnel and equipment to improve the Highway Department’s response to winter storms, but they doubted that even that would have prevented long delays on icy northeast Arkansas highways last week given the magnitude of that storm and its subfreezing temperatures.

Voters overwhelmingly defeated Pulaski Technical College’s 1.9-mill request that, had it passed, would have established a tax district and generated $11 million annually for the school. Patrons turned back the measure by a 3-to-1 margin.

Pulaski County Circuit Judge Collins Kilgore on Tuesday ordered a Little Rock brokerage firm to move forward with the sale of an apartment complex coowned by John Burkhalter, a businessman and candidate for lieutenant governor, against his objections.

Prosecutors have no hard evidence — only the testimony of “a bunch of accomplices and suspects” — to prove a Little Rock man participated in a 2012 robbery and slaying at a now-closed Mexican restaurant, defense attorneys told a Pulaski County jury on Tuesday.

Architects, engineers and educational planners checked out Parkview High School last week — the final campus to be reviewed as part of a comprehensive facilities study commissioned by the Little Rock School Board.

A week before he was scheduled to stand trial for a second time, a 42-year-old Sherwood man agreed Tuesday to register as a sex offender and pay a $1,000 fine for molesting an 11-year-old friend of his daughter.

The executive director of the state Board of Examiners in Counseling has moved up the effective date of his resignation by a month to April 30, board Chairman Mark Coffman of Russellville said Tuesday.

Little Rock officials have recommended no longer funding four programs and lowering the amount given to others to decrease city assistance to prevention, intervention and community enhancement efforts for youths to about $3.1 million this year.

Voters in Stuttgart and Sharp County on Tuesday participated in special elections to decide whether to fund hospitals in their communities, and in Conway County a measure to bolster economic development was on the ballot.

The Pulaski County Quorum Court preliminarily approved Tuesday night allowing County Judge Buddy Villines to apply for an Arkansas Economic Development Commission grant for a chemical manufacturer in south Pulaski County.

The Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation and the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service will host a panel Monday in honor of Women’s History Month on the empowerment of women and girls.

State health insurance plans for teachers and state employees have spent more than $5.6 million on weight loss surgeries since 2011, but officials don’t know yet whether the Legislature-created program will save money by reducing obesity-related medical expenses, lawmakers learned Tuesday.

Meeting announcements published exclusively on Arkansas Online, the newspaper’s website, can be found at www.arkansasonline.com/tools/meetings/. An electronic form is available on the website to submit support group meeting announcements or changes. Readers can access that form by going to www.arkansasonline.com/contact/supportgroupform/ and submitting the appropriate information.

100 YEARS AGO March 12, 1914 FORT SMITH — United States marshals today seized a freight car at the Frisco freight depot that was labeled “Feed,” and upon opening the car found 23 barrels of whiskey concealed beneath a large quantity of feedstuffs.

Author of books on politics, murder trial Joe McGinniss, the author who reported on political campaigns and murder cases in the books The Selling of the President and Fatal Vision, died Monday. He was 71.

Four days after Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 vanished somewhere between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing, its fate remains unknown, adding a cruel uncertainty to the grief of the families and friends of the 239 people onboard.

The Dallas Cowboys released franchise sacks leader DeMarcus Ware on Tuesday, a salary cap move that owner Jerry Jones called “extremely difficult” after the worst season of the star pass rusher’s career.

by AUSTIN EMERSON SPECIAL TO THE DEMOCRAT-G... | posted: 03/12/2014 3:43 a.m.
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Little Rock Parkview will try to make it three consecutive Class 6A girls state championships for Little Rock public schools, securing a spot in the Class 6A state championship later this week by knocking off rival Little Rock Hall, last season’s champion, 68-58 on Tuesday afternoon.

Senior forward Kyle Kelm had a double-double and Milwaukee’s front line dominated, and the Panthers led the entire way during a 69-63 victory over Wright State on Tuesday night for the Horizon League Tournament title.

CLASS 2A BOYS CLARENDON 61, JUNCTION CITY 58 HAMPTON — Donnie Lowery caught a pass from point guard Richard Knox and made a 25-foot three-pointer at the buzzer as Clarendon (30-1 ) defeated Junction City (27-2 ) on Tuesday at Hampton High School to advance to the Class 2A state championship game.

Colon flings all fastballs, all the time Bartolo Colon of the New York Mets knows what his bread-and butter pitch is. In fact, no starting pitcher in the major leagues throws his fastball as often as Colon.

TENNIS Djokovic, Jankovic advance Novak Djokovic defeated Alejandro Gonzalez 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 on Tuesday, ending the Colombian’s surprising run to the third round at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, Calif.

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL Joyce named Mountain Home coach David Joyce, a quarterback on Van Buren’s 1996 Class AAAA state championship, was named Mountain Home’s new coach Tuesday, Athletic Director Janet Wood said.

The licenses of St. Bernard Financial Services of Russellville and its top executive should be revoked or suspended for not properly supervising a broker who made unsuitable bond trades for the state, the Arkansas Securities Department says in a complaint filed against St. Bernard.

U.S. wholesale businesses in January suffered their steepest sales drop in nearly five years, but they continued to increase their stockpiles, a suggestion to analysts that companies expect the economy will rebound from an abrupt winter slowdown.

Speaking to a group of analysts in New York on Tuesday, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Charles Holley painted a more hopeful financial picture for the company than the one revealed when it released its fourth-quarter and year-end earnings for fiscal 2014 less than a month ago.

QUOTE OF THE DAY “We have no problems with this. These 10 factories will implement the recommended corrective measures without hampering their production.” Shahidullah Azim, Vice president, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association

Wal-Mart set to open a convenience store Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will open its first convenience store next Wednesday on South Walton Boulevard, within view of the global retail giant’s home office in Bentonville.

How old are lentils? Here’s one clue: People who say lentils are shaped like lenses have the reference backwards. Turns out that the world’s first lenses got that name because they were shaped, yes, like lentils.

There are many appropriate ways to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day (Monday). Wearing your favorite green sweater. Attending a parade (did you know Hot Springs is home to the World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade?).

DEAR JEANNE & LEONARD: Our family is divided over whether our brother should have to repay the money he borrowed from our father. My two brothers think “Ritchie” needs to make good on the loans. But my sister and I want to let it drop.

DEAR REV. GRAHAM: A friend of mine admits she isn’t a Christian but claims she feels God’s presence when she does something good for other people. I’m not sure what she means by this, but I admire her for her concern for others. — J.J.